Natasha Lennard joins PTO to talk about her recent writing on how the Democrats are making sense of their electoral defeat in November and how the mainstream of the party is adopting conservative social policy while flirting with far-right activists and influencers. We also talked about the enduring and ever more bizarre democrat obsession with civility and bipartisanship.

In the latest episode of Interregnum Richard Seymour comments on the the fallout from the calamitous meeting between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, and JD Vance.

If you would like to listen to this episode of PTO Extra! please consider becoming a £5 p/m supporter on patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

In the latest episode of Interregnum Richard Seymour comments on the the fallout from the calamitous meeting between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, and JD Vance.

If you would like to listen to this episode of PTO Extra! please consider becoming a £5 p/m supporter on patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

Hannah Proctor joins PTO to discuss her book Burnout: The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat.  Amongst other aspects of the book, we discussed the practice of Maoist self-criticism and its influence on the American and European New Left, the accounts of women involved in the 1984-85 miners strike following its defeat at the hands of the Thatcher government, and about the Paris Commune of 1871 and the fate of the communards who were exiled to the French penal colony in New Caledonia.

Adam Tooze returns to answer the many excellent questions sent in by PTO supporters.

If you would like to listen to this episode of PTO Extra! please consider becoming a £5 p/m supporter on patreon:

www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

Adam Tooze returns to answer the many excellent questions sent in by PTO supporters.

If you would like to listen to this episode of PTO Extra! please consider becoming a £5 p/m supporter on patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

Richard returns to answer more questions - including on the Gaza ceasefire, bible study in American schools, and what might be learned from Mexico's Morena party.

PTO is joined by the Palestinian writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada. In our conversation we talked about the humanitarian situation in Gaza after fifteen months of war and genocide. We also talked about the military capabilities of Hamas and why Israel was unable to inflict a total defeat on the group. We dicussed how the Trump administration will relate to Israel, and finally Mohammad shared his thoughts on the effects of the international solidarity movement during the genocide. Our conversation was recorded before the ceasefire negotiations accelerated, but plenty of the discussion remains relevant to the current situation.

Will Davies joins PTO to talk about his recent article in the London Review of Books on the UK government's economic agenda. We discussed the policies that Labour has adopted in its attempt to break out of the low growth and low productivity rates that have characterised the UK economy in recent years. We also chatted about the extent to which the Starmer-Reeves project emulates and diverges from the Biden administration's economic policies, and the left de-risking critique of so-called 'modern supply side economics'.

If you would like to listen to this episode of PTO Extra please consider becoming a £5 patron on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

In today’s episode Richard Seymour responds to listener questions on the overthrow of Assad in Syria, the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the significance of widespread public sympathy for Luigi Mangione. We also talked about “normie socialism”, a Soviet counterfactual, and what books Richard has been reading this year. As always, thanks to everyone who sent in a question and for your continued support.